If you can afford night vision and have bought some, here are a couple training tricks and bits of information you should know.
First, night vision works by amplifying the light energy already present. Originally these scopes were called starlight scopes because of the need for outside light. Today the light can be in IR spectrum and most night vision comes with an IR light you can turn on and off to see better. The night vision optic is based around an intensifier tube that uses the small bits of light and makes it brighter and then projects an electronic image onto a screen. It’s also the most expensive part, so you want to take care of it. The best thing you can do for it is use the day filters all the optics come with.
At first I liked the PVS 7B
style optics. I used them a bunch. They are almost impossible to move around with. When you are stationary and looking at something, just turn them on and look through them. To move around with them on, start in your house, during the day, with the daylight filter on, and try walking around. I suggest you try this with no one around. You are going to run into walls, trip over the couch, and hold your hands out like a zombie to go around corners. My Marines and I use to laugh at each other when we practiced moving around with these. After you can walk around without running into anything, then start other things. Go really slow. It will take you a long time to learn how to just walk around with them on. If you want to learn how to drive with them on, start in an empty parking lot with a friend that is not wearing NVGs (Night Vision Goggles) that can take control of the vehicle if needed (it will probably be needed). If you are going to use a weapon using traditional sights are out. You can use a laser, visible or not mounted to the weapon or point shoot. This also takes lots of practice. Start dry fire by just wearing the goggles and then pointing at something. Lift the goggles to actually see if you are pointing where you thought you wanted to. These optics take weeks or practice to use effectively. I used these outside to move around in stealth mode, but once the fight was on or entry was made into a building, the optics were flipped up out of the way and a white light was used. Now this big piece of plastic is strapped to the top of my helmet.
The other style optic I was issued was the PVS 14
. At first I didn’t like these because they gave me vertigo. The secret is practice. These I ran over my left eye, leaving my right eye open for normal use including my rifle and pistol sites. You can start in the daylight, but it’s better to be in the dark to use. Just walk around until you start to get light headed and then stop for a while. Then go back at it. After a couple days of practice it will be natural. With both eyes on different things you still have depth perception. So with these I could do things like run that I couldn’t do with the PVS 7s. I also learned that I could leave them on day or night, inside or out, and it didn’t bother me too much. Even when I entered a building and was using a weapon lights or the house lights were on, I just left the optic over my left eye and didn’t notice it. Your mind is an amazing thing and will give you the information you need at the right time.
You can also mount a PVS 14 behind your red dot site on your rifle and look through it. This works and all the training you need to do is learn how to set it up and change your eye relief you use on your rifle. I really don’t like this because it limits how much I could see.
Night Vision is the reason the American Military owns the night. While some people (even some of my old officers) think that night vision turns night to day, it doesn’t. They give a great advantage at night. Just learn what you can and can’t do with them before you go out and try something crazy.
Stay Safe,
Ben
